THE FLY (1958) and THE FLY (1986)

The Classic:

"The film [1958] is both fun and frightening, and can also be viewed (however modest its intentions) as a commercialized techno-version of Franz Kafka's allegory Metamorphosis." TV Guide Magazine

"Believe it or not, The Fly happens to be one of the better, more restrained entries of the "shock" school. As produced and directed by the late Kurt Neumann, with an earnest little cast headed by Al Hedison, Patricia Owens and Vincent Price, this is a quiet, uncluttered and even unpretentious picture, building up almost unbearable tension by simple suggestion." Howard Thompson (The New York Times)

Andre Delambre: Help me!!

The Remake:

"This picture is disgusting." Mick LaSalle (San Fransico Chronicle)

"What makes The Fly such a stunning piece of obsessive filmmaking is the way Cronenberg deftly allows us to identify with his monstrous creation." Patrick Goldstein (Los Angeles Times)

Veronica Quaife: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[Steve]

ahoy folks, welcome to part two of our Classics + Remakes month. this week we'll move away from the supernatural realms of THE EVIL DEAD/EVIL DEAD and examine the (slightly) more grounded worlds of science-gone-so-horribly-wrong-it-turned-me-into-a-dang-fly.

both films are Shelleyan allegories for the simultaneous wonders and dangers of playing God, much like the infamous tale of Dr. Frankenstein and his (not-so) beloved The Creature. not that i know from personal experience, but i imagine that creating a revolutionary new technology comes with an immense sense of euphoria, like you've cracked the code so to speak. THE FLYs are great examples of the naivety that sometimes accompanies our great inventors when they allow their immediate curiosity to overtake their more methodical, rational minds. such is being human, i suppose.

THE FLYs delve into the Body Horror subgenre, especially the Cronenberg remake. when Body Horror is done well, it usually has something insightful to say about the human condition, rather than showcasing gore merely for shock value or simply to sell movie tickets. i think it's fairly common to forget sometimes just how dependent we are upon our functioning bodies, so much so that we can easily take our health for granted, until ultimately our bodies mutate against our wishes or something external confronts our mortal limitations, and we're left realizing just how fragile this thing called life really is. much like with The Creature in the aforementioned Frankenstein, both THE FLY directors Kurt Neumann and David Cronenberg explore a sense of empathy toward our protagonists as they come to terms with their radically altered humanity.

THE FLYs also examine the insecurities of men + fragile masculinity, which i always find intriguing in cinema since many films tend to glorify patriarchal endeavours, rather than question them. i wouldn't argue that either film is a great example of feminist filmmaking (they're no JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES...), but both protagonists are really their own worst enemies, which, for better or worse, is fun for the audience to say "i told you so."

(we see the love interests in both films, Helene Delambre played by Patricia Owens in 1958 and Geena Davis as Veronica Quaife in 1986, act as the rational outsider, heeding warning to our maddened protagonists just before they dangerously "dive deep into the plasma pool.")

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join us Sunday, October 25 at 10am at the Red Brick Cafe for our second discussion of Classics + Remakes month!

you can watch THE FLY (1958) for free at the following links: https://archive.org/details/the.-fly.-1958 and https://fsharetv.cc/w/the-fly-episode-1-tt0051622. you can also rent the film on Apple TV, Prime Video, and YouTube.

you can watch THE FLY (1986) for free here: https://fsharetv.cc/w/the-fly-episode-1-tt0091064. there's one DVD copy available at the Guelph Public Library as well. you can stream the film on Disney+ and rent it on Apple TV, Prime Video, and YouTube.

happy watching...? !🪰